Hawaii 2016 - Day 5 (12/7/2016) - Oahu

First on the agenda for the day was Diamond Head.  I made it there around 10am, parked outside the park (the inside lot was understandably full), then made the hike in and up.  The hike was only mildly strenuous, but I was still drenched in sweat by the time I was done; I don't understand how some of the little Asian ladies made it up and down nicely dressed and in nice shoes without breaking a sweat.  After that, around noon, I need to go back to the hotel to shower again before doing anything else.

Next was a visit to the Pearl Harbor Historic Sites, on what happened to be the 75th anniversary of the attack by Japan (no, I didn't plan that - it was a happy accident); I didn't see any of the formal ceremonies, though.  By the time I got there, the tickets to the USS Arizona Memorial (which are free) were gone for the day.  The guy behind the desk advised me that since I was solo they might let me through with one of the groups if I hung around by the entrance to the movie where they assembled.  Fortunately this worked, and I was able to get in with the 2pm group.  Our group had a survivor of the attack with us - he received a rousing ovation, was first to get on and off the boat to the memorial, and had several picture requests from other attendees (including a few young ladies).  I will admit that I got a little emotional when I saw the guy, but I held it together pretty well.  Overall I thought that the memorial and the general site was quite tasteful.  If there's a next time, I'll try to check out the other memorials/museums (e.g., USS Missouri) on the site.

After leaving Pearl Harbor I drove up to Haleiwa in search of the Hula Dog food truck (they have a veggie dog), but it was closed.  Instead I went across to the Pipeline Pita food truck and had a felafel gyro and pineapple slush (which was served in a pineapple) - they were both OK, though the slush was not worth the price.  From there I hustled up to Shark's Cove to check it out before it got too dark - I arrived just at sunset, though it was too cloudy to see the sun.  I got in a brief conversation with two couples who were hanging around nearby (I heard them discussing the Polynesian Culture Center, and was curious what their opinion was), and then we said our goodbyes as it got dark.  From there I drove back to the hotel.

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Pictures can be found here:
https://goo.gl/photos/aLt7oAej7KErPCx86